The iconic teen romance Pretty in Pink originally ended with a completely different couple.
In short: The 1986 film Pretty in Pink is a quintessential teen classic, but its famous conclusion was a last-minute invention. Test audiences famously rejected the original ending, forcing the production to scramble for a rewrite that changed the romantic trajectory of the entire story, leaving the original footage lost to history.
Directed by Howard Deutch and written by John Hughes, the 1986 film Pretty in Pink became a cultural touchstone of the decade. The story follows Andie Walsh, a high school senior navigating class divides and social pressures in a Chicago suburb. While the film is now remembered for the romantic union between Andie and the wealthy Blane McDonnagh, this was not the director's initial vision. The original script concluded with Andie ending up with her best friend, Philip 'Duckie' Dale.
The shift occurred after test audiences reacted negatively to the original pairing. Hughes, who had written the screenplay based on the Psychedelic Furs song of the same name, returned to the soundstage months after production wrapped to film a new ending. This change was so abrupt that actor Andrew McCarthy, who played Blane, had to wear a wig because he had already cut his hair for a stage play. Paramount executives had been concerned that the original ending might be perceived as classist, and the rewrite was intended to resolve the tension between the characters.
The film's legacy is tied as much to its soundtrack as its narrative. Featuring hits like Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's 'If You Leave'—written in under 24 hours—the music was central to the film's identity. Despite mixed critical reviews at the time, with some calling the plot tired, the film grossed $40.5 million. Today, the original ending exists only in a novelization by H. B. Gilmour and Randi Reisfield, as Paramount reports that the original film footage has been lost, cementing the revised ending as the definitive version of the story.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Pretty in Pink
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